Gay-straight alliance formed
With the administration's support, students at a James City County high school organize a group to help gay and lesbian students feel safer.
BY PATTI ROSENBERG

JAMES CITY -What may be the Peninsula's first high school club on gay issues has formed at Lafayette High School in James City County.

Joel Gleiser, a 15-year-old freshman, helped start the Gay-Straight Alliance, a local chapter of a loosely organized national movement. He said he is straight, but he and other club founders have gay friends or gay family members.

"I thought it was an issue that hadn't been dealt with," he said. "There's still prejudice against homosexuals and transgendered people. I've seen it. I've heard it."
 
It's mostly words, he said, but words are a lot.